Multiferroic Behavior of Sn-Modified BiFeO3 Thin Films

BiFexSn1-xO3 (x = 0 and 0.05) (BFSO-x) thin films were grown in situ on Pt/TiO2/SiO2/Si(100) substrates with a SrRuO3 buffer layer by off-axis radio-frequency sputtering. The effects of Sn substitution on the multiferroic behavior of BFO thin films were investigated. The leakage current of BFSO-x thin films decreases substantially with the introduction of Sn. The BiFexSn1-xO3 (x = 0.05) thin film exhibits a lower dielectric loss (tan delta similar to 0.013) and a much higher dielectric permittivity (epsilon(r) similar to 307) as compared with those of BFO thin films, together with the polarization of 2P(r) similar to 108.5 mu C/cm(2). The fatigue endurance was greatly improved because of the suppression of oxygen vacancies caused by Sn substitution, while the magnetic behavior was degraded with the introduction of nonmagnetic Sn. (C) 2010 The Electrochemical Society. [DOI: 10.1149/1.3458859] All rights reserved.